Nearness Of You (Diffident – Forest Fantasy), owned by Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Mr & Mrs Adar and Natasha Poonawalla, rep Villoo Poonawalla Racing & Breeding Pvt Ltd, showed marked improvement over her last start to sail home unchallenged to lift the Western Indian Bookmakers’ Association Million. Hitting the front right from start, Nearness of You headed every post and although she was pressed a bit in the final furlong, she held on gamely to make this effort a winning one. Nearness Of You dictated the terms at a fair clip, not going too fast nor making it at a crawl. She was going over the mile the first time, hence jockey David Allan began cautiously.

Mishri, who had shown good speed in both her previous outings, settled behind the leader, with Javo, Voyager and Majestic Force travelling close behind. At the turn, David Allan got to work early and asked his filly to quicken. Nearness Of You responded well and they quickly bounded forward to establish a handy lead past the 300. Mishri and Majestic Force were the only two within range while Voyager and Javo were not getting any foothold. Nearness Of You, a Padmanabhan-trainee, kicked on regardless and Mishri tried hard to catch but failed. At the wire, David Allan eased the filly and notched a maiden victory for Nearness Of You sparing over two lengths at the post. Mishri has been right there in all her three starts and a win round the corner seems inevitable.

Mr Noorulla Khan’s National Glory (Glory Of Dancer – Painted Faces), trained by Narendra Lagad, once again proved that he is blessed with blazing speed, winning the Japan Cup in under 59 seconds yet again. Although he was a touch slower than his last effort (58.33), he still had three lengths to spare over Bullet. National Glory was quick at start and darted into the lead with Ashwa Paarth in second. They didn’t take long to enter the straight and once in the straight, National Glory dominated the others completely, outpacing them, and in the final furlong ran away to establish a decisive lead.

Apprentice lad Akash Agarwal did ensure that National Glory stay focussed and gave her just a couple of backhanders which was enough to see her through. Bullet came from behind to snatch the runner-up slot from Ashwa Paarth. Ocean Wish ran on a tame fourth. The biggest success of the day in terms of betting came when Rehanullah Khan’s Game Changer (Brave Act – Soviet Lake) won the Elusive Pimpernel Trophy. Having lost to Tamarai when equally fancied last time out, Game Changer this time looked much assured and with that run behind him, put in a strong run to win with surprising ease in the huge field of 19 runners. Sitting well up in the front bunch, Jockey NG McCullagh was in striking position as they turned for home.

Hurricane Bird helplessly watched Game Changer storm past early in the straight. Bold Dancer tried hard to match strides, but Game Changer proved far more superior and galloped further away to score easily. Bold Dancer had to be content with the next best slot and Hurricane Bird did well to save place money. Sexy Eyes (Major Impact – Saraceno), carrying the bottom weight in the higher class, utilised the advantage to score her first win this season. Having found one better in her last two outings, Sexy Eyes this time showed a lot more determination to post an impressive victory end to end over the mile race. Neither Starseeker nor Scarface measured up to the promise they had shown last time out and ran listlessly. Sexy Eyes held a firm grip throughout the race and only got stronger at the finish. She led the field into the straight, then quickened well to establish a long lead which held her in good stead.

She was all by herself in the final furlong and as Starseeker and Alexus struggled to keep up, Glowing Star warmed up to beat them to the runner-up berth. Scarface ran further down the field. Arabian Eagle (Alnasr Alwasheek – Anthalia) came alive with a fiery finishing effort and toppled Fantastic close home. Big Time Girl brought the field homeward and had a handy lead approaching the 400. Soon Fantastic warmed up and got past the leader only to find Arabian Eagle breathing down her neck. The two were clear of the rest with Arabian Eagle finishing on strongest. He went on to register a fine victory ahead of Fantastic. Ocean Of Faith was far too late but ended well finishing a close third. Scorch (Oath – X Factor) impressed in her first appearance and shocked hot favourite Silk Cut in the Southern Empire Trophy, the concluding event of the day. She was quick to jump out and held a comfortable lead over Silk Cut as they turned for home.

In the straight, Scorch always held the advantage and Silk Cut made a desperate bid to overhaul her. However, Scorch was travelling extremely well to be bothered by the favourite and galloped on majestically to score a facile victory. Silk Cut, for the third time in a row, ended second best. Scorch surely looked good in her victory and will do well again even in a slightly longer race. Silk Cut will live to fight another day and should not be too disappointed. Imran Chisty was the lone professional to score a double.